<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>of the stars by greedlings</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23564341">of the stars</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/greedlings/pseuds/greedlings'>greedlings</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>fluff bingo [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Original Work</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Other, Stargazing, yall will read my babie and yall'll enjoy it!!!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 19:01:42</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,418</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23564341</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/greedlings/pseuds/greedlings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Kaz wasn't expecting to be joined by Mattie while sleeplessly watching the stars, but she would also never turn them down.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Original Character(s)/Original Character(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>fluff bingo [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1670914</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Writing Squad Fluff Bingo</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>of the stars</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/silver_fish/gifts">silver_fish</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>another fluff bingo!! this one is my beloved ocs mattie and kaz with the prompt stargazing! asfjhsdlkfhaksd i love them</p>
<p>(note: this is. kinda in canon verse? like i tried to write it like i could include it in the actual novel but idk if it will. anyways what i'm saying is there's some lore stuff there AND there's a decent change it'll change in the future)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“Couldn’t sleep either?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Kaz turned her head towards Mattie, watching as they pulled themself onto the roof. She sighed, “No. There’s just… so much going on. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Too</span>
  </em>
  <span> much.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Mattie hummed in agreement. They lowered themself beside Kaz, pulling their legs into a cross-legged position, “You’re not used to all this.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Slowly, Kaz shook her head, “Life felt so… so </span>
  <em>
    <span>slow</span>
  </em>
  <span> before. Then, all of a sudden, everything is happening at once. I mean, in less than a month, I was framed for murder and exiled, found myself in Obria then back in Elsia…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You learned to read,” Mattie added.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Kaz sighed again, “I learned to read, and I’ve somehow managed to uncover a huge conspiracy which could start a revolution.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s a lot to swallow.” Mattie leaned back, resting their head on their hands. Kaz raised an eyebrow at Mattie’s still crossed legs, but didn’t mention anything. Instead, Kaz followed suit, leaning back on the slanted roof and turning her eyes to the sky.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I never really appreciated the stars before,” Kaz said suddenly, her voice hushed, “but I couldn’t help but miss them in Obria.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Mattie was quiet for a moment before replying, “I always wanted to see the stars. I studied them obsessively for a while, their patterns and creation and stuff, but I never got to </span>
  <em>
    <span>see</span>
  </em>
  <span> them.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>And stuff?</span>
  </em>
  <span> You must be tired.” Mattie huffed a laugh in response, and a smile tugged at one corner of Kaz’s lips. “What do you think of them, now that you’ve seen them and all?” Kaz turned her head towards Mattie.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was silent for a moment. Kaz watched as Mattie’s eyes slowly scanned the sky above, a combination of quiet awe and elation pulling their face into a soft smile. They seemed to register Kaz’s question after a few seconds, whispering a small </span>
  <em>
    <span>oh</span>
  </em>
  <span> before sighing, “They’re… incredible. No amount of studying them could have ever prepared me for </span>
  <em>
    <span>this</span>
  </em>
  <span>.” They waved an arm towards the sky, their words falling into a whisper.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I can imagine.” Kaz turned her head upwards again, watching the stars twinkle in the dark. Her eyes jumped between them, searching for the pictures she had heard so much about.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That one is Elsian,” Mattie said, pointing to the right side of the sky above.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“How did you…” Kaz trailed off, following Mattie’s finger</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I remembered what you said. About never knowing the constellations before.” Kaz felt heat rise in her cheeks, but kept her eyes to the cluster of stars Mattie was pointing at. “See how there’s a sort of backward-s shape made of brighter stars?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It took Kaz a moment, but eventually she saw it: a curling shape made of stars that shone just brighter than the others. “I do! That’s the serpent, right?” Mattie nodded, but before they could say anything else, Kaz continued, “And… there—” Kaz stretched her arm out beside Mattie’s, tracing a line of stars that cut straight through the stars forming the serpent, “—that’s the sword?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes! And if you go to the east of Elsian…” Mattie moved their finger through the sky. Kaz had to roll onto her hip to follow Mattie’s hand, and based on the motion that Kaz heard behind her, Mattie did as well. When they stopped, Mattie’s finger was pointing towards a portion of the sky that, other than a few scattered stars, seemed totally dark, “You’ll find Obrian. You see the circle?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Again, Kaz took a moment to trace the stars. When she finally found the circle, she found herself cocking her head, “It’s…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Not </span>
  <em>
    <span>really </span>
  </em>
  <span>a circle,” Mattie admitted, finishing Kaz’s sentence after a moment, “but it’s an easy way to find it. There’s a star here—” Mattie pointed to a large star in the center of the circle, then moved to a smaller one that bordered it, “--and another one here. There’s a huge debate among historians which star is the head of the serpent, and which is the tail.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wouldn’t the bigger star be the head?” Kaz flipped onto her other side to face Mattie. Her breath caught in her throat, however, when she realized just how close Mattie was; their nose nearly touched Kaz’s, and for the first time Kaz truly found herself eye-to-eye with Mattie. Though their face was gently shadowed by the hair that bordered it, their eyes shone in the light of the moon, the brilliant green of their irises gently reflecting the twinkling stars above.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Mattie seemed to be caught off-guard at the sudden closeness, and, after a moment of stunned silence, they moved back slightly. Without a beat, however, they smiled, “That’s what </span>
  <em>
    <span>I</span>
  </em>
  <span> think. But historians… well, sometimes I think they just like to argue for the sake of arguing.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Kaz turned back towards Obrian. “Then that line there, the one that crosses over the center star, that’s the sword?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Mattie hummed in reply, and another silence fell between the two. Kaz watched Obrian; the head--or tail, whatever it was--twinkle against the empty darkness of space around it. It was larger than the other stars, she noticed then, and the line of stars that represented the sword seemed to intersect, if not include, the star in its path.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She felt herself hum, though she didn’t intend to, and from behind her Mattie said, “What’s wrong?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s just… the head--or, the tail--it that star part of the sword? Or does the sword cut through it?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Mattie laughed under their breath, “Does the sword </span>
  <em>
    <span>cut through</span>
  </em>
  <span>, that’s good.” Kaz couldn’t help but smile at Mattie’s comment as they cleared their throat, “Uh, that’s another thing that historians debate about. I never really liked reading about that though. Everyone sees the myths differently, you know, and everyone thinks that </span>
  <em>
    <span>they’re</span>
  </em>
  <span> right and everyone else is </span>
  <em>
    <span>wrong</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Kaz nodded, “From what you’ve said, historians really like to complicate things like that.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Mattie laughed again--a </span>
  <em>
    <span>real</span>
  </em>
  <span> laugh that filled the night with short, quick stabs of joyous sound--and Kaz felt heat rise in her cheeks once again. “Yeah, I suppose they do.” Mattie looked up at the sky for a moment, their face falling to rest in a way that made Kaz think of yearning. But they snapped out of it, shaking their head slightly before turning back to Kaz, “It’s late. We should probably-”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I want to stay out a bit longer.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Mattie didn’t respond, only cocked their head gently before smiling, slowly nodding, “Alright.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Can you show me more?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Of course!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Kaz listened as well as she could, but Mattie’s habit of over explaining left Kaz lost in the dust. She still listened, though, although at that point it was more to listen to Mattie, not to learn. They went on, something about gods and stories and debates that Kaz couldn’t follow; every once in a while, they would pause, only for just a second, and glance over to see if Kaz was still listening. Every time, Kaz made sure to give them a small nod of the head, something to tell them that they were still being listened to.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was early when they both decided to turn in, the first tendrils of the sunrise slowly chasing the stars from view. Kaz couldn’t help but sigh, and yet when she glanced over at Mattie they seemed heartbroken, their eyes still gazing at the sky, swirling with soft pinks and oranges amongst the navy of the night. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We should do this again,” Kaz whispered once the pair were inside.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Mattie smiled, and their eyes softened in a way Kaz had never seen before. “Yeah, I think we should.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There was a groan from one of the small rooms, and the pair froze; Anwen was </span>
  <em>
    <span>not</span>
  </em>
  <span> the person you wanted to wake up, and especially not so early in the morning. Holding back giggles, Kaz and Mattie walked down the hall to their own rooms.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Before you go to bed, Kaz,” Mattie said; their voice teetered on the level of too loud, but Kaz didn’t think of telling them to be quiet, “Thank you. For tonight, I mean. It… it really helped.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Anytime, Mattie. I always have an ear.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Actually, you have two.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Kaz could barely contain the sharp laugh that threatened to explode from her chest, “I do. And they’ll listen whenever you need it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Mattie smiled, nodded once, then closed the door behind them. Kaz followed suit, slowly making her way to her own bed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As she closed her eyes, Kaz thought of the stars.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>comments are always appreciated &lt;3</p>
<p>you can find me on tumblr @/greecllings and on twitter @/greedlings_ (and if u want to see more from my ocs my twitter is the best place to go !)</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>